printable page from database pages

kappaluppa

I hope i can explain this...

I want to be able to please a "print this page" button on my web pages. The web pages are created from a database using a template.

I want to be able to have the user click on "printable version of this page" and the data be sent to a template that has been stripped of colors, borders, etc.

How do i keep or attach the query string to the template?

Geez! did I totally confuse everyone?

PS - My next question is going to be how do I make an "email this article to a friend" button (just thought I'd warn ya...)

THANKS A BUNCH!!!

amcgrath

Not quite following you here Kathy, mainly cause what you're asking seems pretty straightforward. Stripping the stuff you don't want to print can be done two ways: 1. Create a page without it (easy).
2. Edit the current one and surround the stuff you want to take out with something like
if (!$print_me) { // show colors/images }

As for email this article, thats pretty easy too: Simply create a mail document with a link to the current page... one thing we did was log the user who emailed it, the person who it was emailed to, then we got a sense as to success, etc.

Let me know if you need more, I know im a bit vague here....

kappaluppa

hI ALLEN,
I guess I should have mentioned that I am a very-beginner. ;o)

So what seems obvious and easy to the experienced, is Greek to me! 😃

I do need more. It sounds like what you describe is what I need, only I don't know how to 'get there from here.'

I sure would appreciate it if you could elaborate on your comments.

Thanks
K

amcgrath

ok, lets say you have a php-generated page and you want to add a "Print Me" button. This page has all kinds of colors and images you do not want to display IF the user selects the print button.

So, what you need to do is as the page is being displayed, surround your image links with this:

<? if (!$print_me) { ?>
// image tag here

<? } ?>

Same deal for colors and any other formatting/display thing you do not want to show up if the button is pressed.

Now, in the form tag for the button, simply name the button print_me ... and when a person clicks it, voila! your script will "see" it and not display the images and other stuff (btw: !$print_me means "if the $print_me variable is not available... which means not pressed....)

Let me know if that clears it up.

kappaluppa

so do i have to put that tag around ALL the colors, images, etc. in the page? that's a heck of a lot of comments!!

amcgrath

shrug it's either that or create a separate template for printing.